RED CHRISTMAS: pretend and play restaurant set: waitress/waiter apron

We are in deep with the pretend and play restaurant set. So far we've done the chef's set - including chef's hat, apron and oven mitts/pot holders.

In our house, my girls don't just love to make my meal made-to-order they love to take my order. So I definitely needed to include a different apron for my little waitresses. Unlike the chef's apron this apron is not a bib-apron. It wraps around the waist and includes pockets for an ordering pad, pen and straw/money, etc. Like the chef's apron it is designed for the child to be able to put it on herself/himself by wrapping strap around the waist and fastening hook and loop or by just leaving hook and loop always fastened so that the child can pull up the apron like a pair of pants.

Waitress/Waiter Apron

Here's what you need:
~fabric for the apron (see first step for measurement info)
~fabric for the divided pocket (see second step for measurement info)
~1/2 inch of the 5/8 inch width elastic for the waist strap - the same length as the top of the apron
~fabric for the waist strap - width = 2 inches; length = double the length of the elastic
-1 - 2 inch piece of hook and loop

Here's what you do:
1) Measure child from waist to knee or mid-thigh - depending on how long you want the apron. Add 1 inch to this measurement. Measure from hip to hip. This measurement is the top of your apron . . . the narrowest part. Add about two inches to the measurement for the bottom of the apron. (My apron was 12 inches on the top and 14 inches on the bottom and 11 1/2 inches from top to bottom.) Use these measurements to map out your apron on fabric. Cut out two pieces - front and back of apron.

2) Measure out pocket pieces according to width of apron. (Mine was 9 x 4 inches.) You need two of these pieces.

3) Pin the pocket pieces right sides together. Sew around leaving 2 inch hole for turning. Turn. Top stitch one long edge of pocket (this will be the top opening. Then pin pocket to top fabric piece of apron and sew around the remaining three side. Add pocket dividers where desired.

4) Fold waist strap fabric in half length wise wrong sides together. It will be about 1 inch wide now. Fold under raw edges. Iron and sew down edge to create a tube. Insert elastic by pinning safety pin on one end making it easier to push through. Pull the elastic and bunch the fabric up around the elastic as you go. The elastic should be pulled through until end of the elastic without the safety pin is about two to three inches inside the tube. Stop. Sew this end in place and then keep pulling the safety pin end through to the other end. Sew in place on this end.

5) Sew one side of the hook and loop onto the non-elastic end of the strap.

6) Sew the other side of the hook and loop about 1 inch in from the top edge of the fabric that you will be using on the inner layer.

7) Pin strap to the opposite side so that the hook and loop pieces match up. The hook and loop piece on the strap should fold into the hook and loop on the inside of the apron. Here's an example of what it looks like finished.

8) Sandwich strap between the two apron pieces facing right sides together. Sew around leaving a hole for turning. Clip corners. Turn. Top stitch all the way around closing turning hole up in the process.